Angels
by ricetard
Summary: Oneshot, Draco/Luna / In the darkest of times, Draco finds a friend.


His hands are shaking when he comes down with the food. New prisoners have been brought in over the week, and he's back at the manor for the weekend. The steps are stone and cold, just like the rest of the house.

He stops in front of the old man. Ollivander. The food feels heavy in his palms. Ollivander doesn't say anything, just takes the bowl and spoon and starts eating it without sparing him a second glance.

The only other prisoner. She's someone from school. Draco recognizes her as that strange Ravenclaw girl, in the year right below him. She smiles when she sees him, and this comes as a shock.

He doesn't say anything, though; keep his face straight, like all Malfoys should. Draco doesn't know if he wants to be a Malfoy anymore.

"You're Draco Malfoy," says the girl, as if echoing his thoughts. Her voice is soft, gentle. It doesn't fit in with the rest of the manor.

Draco sends her a dubious glance, but doesn't say anything. Because she's not taking the food he's offering to her, he sets it down on the ground. Then he turns away and starts to leave.

But the girl says to him, before he can even get very far, "Do you know who I am?"

It's not demanding, menacing. It's simply a question.

Draco turns around to look at her.

"You should know the names of your captives, shouldn't you?" says the girl pensively. "To know who you're dealing with."

Draco starts to nod, and then suddenly shakes his head. What his he doing here, talking with a classmate he's hardly ever acknowledged before?

"I'm Luna Lovegood," continues the girl, looking at him like he's an old friend. And then she does something extraordinary: she sticks out her hand to him. It's a bit strange, considering she's chained up and dirty in the manor cellar, and acting like they're equals. "Pleased to meet you," says Luna Lovegood.

Draco stares at her for a good few seconds. Then he turns and leaves the cellar, her hand still in the air.

xx

The next time he comes down the weekend after, Luna Lovegood doesn't look any better than the rest of the prisoners. But there's something about the way she glows, like the darkness isn't suffocating. Draco had always thought it was.

Luna smiles at him and asks, "Soup again?" It takes Draco a moment before he remembers that the last time he had been down, he had given them soup.

"N-No," he says, eyeing Luna warily. "Bread."

He sets the bread down. Ollivander goes for it immediately. Luna turns to Draco.

"I like bread," she tells him. "My favorite kind are the long ones from France. Baguettes."

Draco has had baguettes plenty of times. He doesn't say anything. He nods slightly, and then stands up to walk away.

"Draco," Luna says suddenly, and Draco's a bit astounded by the way his name rolls off her tongue. He swivels around.

"What?"

Luna smiles. Either she hasn't noticed his tone, or she ignores it. "Don't be scared," she tells him.

"What?" Draco repeats.

Luna merely takes a remaining piece of bread and eats it. She says no more.

xx

When his father orders him to take food down to the prisoners during the next weekend, Draco orders the house elf to make a single baguette. It does, and Draco feels like he's won, even if it's something small.

Luna seems pleased, but not surprised when he presents it to her and the other prisoners. She takes a slice, and then offers him a piece.

Draco shakes his head. He's still wary of talking around her.

"He's not fun to work with, is he?" says Luna seriously. "You-Know-Who?"

Draco could laugh. There's nothing fun about the Dark Lord.

"That's what I thought," says Luna. She rests a finger on her chin. "But I suppose he's not having much fun as well. Being alone, looking for Harry Potter."

Draco's heart almost leaps into his throat at the mention of _Harry Potter_, but he ignores it. "What are you talking about?" he says. "The Dark Lord isn't alone. He has Death Eaters at his every side."

"But those Death Eaters are scared of him," says Luna. "And only him. I'd imagine it's hard work, using fear to get power. He's the loneliest man in the world."

Draco doesn't know what to say to this.

"But I'm not alone." Luna smiles at him. "And you're not, either."

xx

"Do you miss your family?" Draco inquires.

Luna seems surprised at his question. She glances up. But then she smiles.

"Yes, I do," she says simply. "My dad. I miss him."

"What about your mum?"

"My mum is dead," says Luna.

Draco stares at her and tries to put himself in her position. Having his own mother, dead. He can't bear to think about it.

He is aware of Ollivander staring at them, their gazes mixed with confusion and shock. He ignores them.

Luna does as well. "It's all right, though," she assures him. "I don't mind, really. I miss her as much as I miss my dad. But I know I'll see both of them again."

Draco doesn't know what to say. He brings up the bowl and quietly gets up to leave.

"What about your family?" Luna asks suddenly.

Draco shoots her a look. "What about my family?" He can't help sneering, even though this isn't the time and place to be arrogant. Even though there's a madman upstairs in his dining room, practically watching his every move.

Luna tilts her head to the side. Her silvery eyes are fixated on him, even though they're in the dark.

"You love them, right?" she says.

"Of course I love them," Draco all but snarls. "They're my _parents_."

"Well I love my parents too," says Luna. "And even though yours are with you, it doesn't change anything. We're not very different, you see."

Draco swivels around and storms out of the cellar. He doesn't know what to think.

xx

When he comes down again, Luna looks like she's waiting for him. Her fingers play with the chains. Ollivander is fast asleep.

"Hello," says Luna suddenly, turning to him. Draco hadn't known that she had heard him.

"You're not very good at being quiet," she continues, twisting her fingers in the chains over and over again. They make a strange clatter on the ground.

"Stop that," says Draco, and he reaches out to grab her wrist. Her hand stills. She doesn't move.

Draco draws back and regrets it. He doesn't do much more.

"What are you doing here?" Luna's voice sounds nothing but curious.

"I wanted to..." Draco stares deep into the blackness of the cellar. "Stay here. For tonight."

"Don't you have a room? This is your home, right?"

"It's not much of a home anymore," murmurs Draco, sitting down on the ground next to her.

Luna continues watching him. "Well it's all right then," she says. "If you want to stay here with us."

And then she smiles, and Draco feels safer.

xx

Several days later, new prisoners come in and Draco is pulled out of school. Mudbloods. He watches as they're dragged into the basement, and quickly moves out of the way; he doesn't want it to be obvious that he's staying down here more than he should.

"What do you think you're doing?" Aunt Bellatrix says to him. "Go up. The Dark Lord wants to see you."

Swallowing, Draco goes back up the landing.

The Dark Lord orders him to Crucio one of the Death Eaters for defying him again. Draco says the incantation in a shaky voice, and feels sick when he is done. The Dark Lord laughs and leaves. Draco wonders if it's safe to go back down into the cellar again.

He waits. He sees Aunt Bellatrix and his father come back up. His father looks tired. Draco thinks of what he had told Luna a few weeks ago, about loving his family, and knows that his feelings haven't changed. Even though his father is still loyal to the Dark Lord, it's not out of praise anymore, but out of fear.

He quickly rushes back down to the cellar in case Aunt Bellatrix or his father have done anything to Luna. He's relieved when he sees that she's unharmed.

She's talking with one of the Mudbloods that's been brought in. Draco recognizes him as the dark-skinned boy from Gryffindor. His stomach twists with jealousy by the way Luna regards him with a sense of familiarity.

"Oh, Draco," she says when she realizes that he's standing there.

Draco manages to smile at her. It's the first time he's smiled in a long time.

"This is Dean," she says, introducing him to the Gryffindor. Dean's eyes narrow. "Dean, this is Draco Malfoy."

"What, have you made friends with him?" Dean's voice is oddly menacing. Draco recalls that Dean is friends with Harry Potter.

He opens his mouth to speak; but Luna talks before he can. "Yes," she says with the utmost sincerity, and Dean swivels around to shoot her a shocked look. "He's on our side."

Draco doesn't know what to say.

"Is he now?" Dean turns his smoldering gaze on Draco again. "Are you on our side now, _Malfoy_?"

"I'm on no one's side," says Draco shortly, and hopes that the Dark Lord can't hear-or feel-his betraying words.

Luna simpers at him, then looks back to Dean. "He might as well be on our side then," she says to him.

Dean continues to look at him suspiciously. But Luna just continues smiling, and Draco feels like she's rescuing him, guarding him.

xx

Potter comes a few days later and Draco, standing by the fireplace, is asked to identify him. It might be Potter, for all he cares. He can see the scar and hair and the eyes even though Potter's glasses are crooked. It might be Potter. Draco only hopes that if it is Potter, he'll save him from this hell. He doesn't say anything.

And then they're taken away and Draco is forced to watch his Aunt Bellatrix torture that Mudblood, Granger, and he can hear Weaseley's shouts and he can hear people talking but he doesn't care because there's nothing, he just wants out. Then Aunt Bellatrix demands for him to grab the goblin from downstairs and he does.

He walks down. At the very end of the line, he can see Potter and Weasley staring at him, expressions mixed with fear and loath. He ignores it. His gaze flits to Luna. She nods, if only a fraction of a millimeter, assuringly.

Her gesture serves as a fuel to him, and he suddenly feels a bit stronger. He takes the goblin upstairs and brings him to his Aunt Bellatrix, and then stands back over to the fireplace again. He tries to ignore the shouts, the screams, the demands. He tries to block it all from his mind.

Then suddenly there's a CRACK! then another CRACK!, then a bang and Draco turns around to see the door opening and Potter and Weasley come out and no one's behind them and there's some talking and some cursing and then a chandelier falls and Draco is shoved to the side and the wands in his hands are wrenched out of his grasp and he collapses and pain is all over his body, all over his body and he blacks out. Draco blacks out.

When he awakens and opens his eyes, his father is furious and Aunt Bellatrix is even more furious and his mother is crying. In the distance, Draco is sure that he can hear the Dark Lord screaming.

But none of it matters.

He runs downstairs to check the basement. It is empty. Everyone is gone.

Draco is alone.

xx

Months later, months and months later, the War is done and Harry Potter is a hero and Harry Potter comes up to him and hands him his wand and mumbles a, "Thanks," and Draco is resentfully grateful. He's also rather embarrassed because his mother is still holding him and his father is holding his hand. But Potter sends him something that might be a smile, and even though Draco feels embarrassed, he thinks that it might be okay.

Everyone else ignores them. Who would pay attention to a family of ex-Death Eaters, unworthy survivors of the war? Draco is sure that he sees some nasty looks shot their way, but he ignores them. What is important is that he and his family are safe.

He hugs his mother back and buries his face in her shoulder. He hears a female voice say,

"Draco."

But it is not his mother.

Draco lifts up his head and sees Luna Lovegood standing there. She is smiling at him.

For some reason, Draco is not embarrassed for her to see him in his mother's embrace.

"Would you like to talk?" she asks him.

Draco glances over at the table she had been sitting at with her friends. Thankfully, Potter, Granger and Weasley are not there. He notices that Longbottom is eyeing him warily, though.

"Sure," he says to her, and slips out of his mother's grasp and follows her out of the Great Hall.

They go into the Entrance Hall. It is marginally quieter here. Luna lets go of his hand and lets her arm drop by her side. Draco hadn't noticed her taking his hand.

"I wanted to say thank you," says Luna, setting her silvery eyes on him. "For keeping me safe?"

"Keeping you safe?" Draco stares at her.

Luna nods. "At your house. For giving me enough food and talking to me. For being a friend." She smiles.

Draco bows his head down. His cheeks are warm. "It-It's nothing," he tells her. "I was just- just following orders."

"I don't think you were," Luna says without any venom. "You weren't ordered to give me food I preferred. You weren't ordered to stay with me every moment you could. You weren't ordered to talk to me, to protect me."

Draco doesn't know what to say.

"That's why I thank you."

Luna watches him for a little while, with a smile on her face. Then she looks thoughtful, and leans in to kiss him on the cheek.

"I'll see you around, Draco," she says, turning back into the Great Hall.

As she walks away, Draco can see her glow.


End file.
